today dreams

Today I'd really like to be
reading this: sprouted kitchen cookbook
while wearing this: aubin & willis dress
and kicking up my feet in these: modern vice boot
and sipping on this: strawberry peanut butter milkshake from green kitchen stories

zucchini bread with some butternut squash

My sister's give me zucchini every week and I am always very happy about it. If they are small then I slice them and stir fry them for dinner. If they are big then I bake something with them. 

A week or so ago I made Edible Living's zucchini bread with adaptations.

I used whole wheat flour, applesauce, honey, succanat, and since I didn't have a pear I used pureed butternut squash.

This bread turned out so tasty. I like it when I bake something healthy but it can still hold together and isn't too soft and wimpy. You know?! 

Bonus to this recipe...it makes two! Why not wrap it up and cheer someone with a warm loaf?

Sunday picnic

 

On Sunday my sister and I and a few friends all met up to grill some food and pack some side dishes to take up the canyon. We chose Millcreek Canyon which is close to my sister's house and turns out everyone else had the same idea as us. So with no vacant picnic tables we found ourselves at the top of the canyon and laying out blankets on the side of the trail. It was perfect. 

For dinner we had each grilled our own main dish (fish on my plate) and then shared some side dishes. There was spaghetti squash, grilled zucchini (a little sad and limp looking in the photo), garden tomato salad, chips and homemade hummus, cookies, Perrier with lime, and paleo pumpkin muffins. It was a great spread. The weather was so nice too. Why haven't I been doing this all summer long?

feeding myself

A couple thoughts here...

I saw this on facebook from Cookus Interruptus and I loved it. There is application to a lot of foods we eat and is one of my strong beliefs---eating REAL food. I'm not perfect at it all the time, but it's something I consider as I grocery shop, and when I'm picking a place to eat, or planning a meal. What am I eating? Is it processed? What is it made of? Where is it coming from?

Also from Cookus Interruptus is a book by Cynthia Lair that is coming out in a few weeks. I'd really like to read it and I love the topic. The author is a Health and Nutrition Counselor and Professor at Bastyr University. She wrote the cookbook "Feeding the Whole Family" which I have blogged about before and some favorite recipes are from that book.

I'm going to quote what she said about her new book....

"Practice is only part of a winning sports strategy. Whole foods have to be part of the playbook to increase energy, endurance, and focus, both on and off the field. What to eat and when to eat, pre-game, during and afterwards? How much fluid do you need to be hydrated? What to eat when you’re on the road? These are critical answers to have for young athletes, competing on a demanding schedule and eating on the run."

So cool right?! As I'm training for a marathon this fall I have nutrition on my mind and how to feed myself before and after runs. Even without the marathon training I never quite know if I am feeding myself the right way when it comes to being an athlete.

Is this a subject that interests you? How do you feed yourself when you are being active?

muffins to freeze

 

 

I already shared this muffin recipe HERE, but I'm back to talk about them again.
Have you made them yet?

This time I bought butternut squash, cut it in half and cooked it in the oven for 30 minutes. Once it cooled I measured it by the cup full into bags to freeze for later use. I've used canned squash in these muffins before and that works just fine, but I couldn't find any at the store I was at so I just did it this way.

Sunday morning I made the muffins, but instead of dried cranberries and semi-sweet chocolate, I added frozen berries. Can't go wrong there!

This recipe makes about 26 muffins which I put in the freezer and I eat as a pre-workout snack in the morning.

Most muffin recipes out there are more like cupcakes in calories and fat, but these are healthy and you can tell because each ingredient does something good for your body. That's the way I like to eat!

Guest Post: Gardening// Ellie

 I've asked a few gardeners to guest post about their experiences with gardening and what they've learned. Being interested and passionate about natural foods and self-sufficient living has me looking forward to a garden of my own someday. 

Guest: Ellie, as she says below, recently got married and moved away from me. Our other cooking girl, Brooke, got married this week. So our cooking meet ups have taken a break, but we still keep in touch and wish we were in the kitchen together. I love Ellie and she has a passion for health and eating wholesome foods. I can't believe this garden!

With our recent marriage came relocation to a small town, and one of the first things we did upon arriving was plant a garden. We were lucky to find a landlord who would let us experiment with a large piece of their land, and experiment we did. We now have quite the jungle in our backyard.

We purchased our starts from a local nursery, our landlord (who grows her plants from seeds she harvests!) and from Home Depot. Home Depot has a great selection of Bonnie Plants, a brand of heirloom and traditional hybrid plants (non-GMO) that are sold in biodegradable pots.

What we planted:

A variety of peppers, a variety of tomatoes, zucchini, crookneck squash, butternut squash, eggplant, lettuce, broccoli, brussel sprouts, beans (bush and pole), beets, corn, carrots, strawberries, cilantro and basil.

What grew well:

Peppers (Anaheim, green, banana), zucchini (grew like a weed!), crookneck squash, corn, carrots, basil and cilantro.

Our tomatoes are growing rapidly but have yet to ripen, the butternut squash is just starting to come in and our beets and beans are growing nicely.

Advice from novice gardeners:

Jon:

• Find a local gardener who can help with pointers on what to plant and typical frost dates.
• Make sure that your garden is protected from animals, especially deer in our case.  In the end, we put up deer netting around the entire garden.  
• Invest in a cheap water timer for your hose.  Saves time.  Also helps to avoid accidentally leaving a sprinkler on all night.  
• Pay attention to planting instructions on plant spacing and thin if necessary.  It hurts to pull up a healthy, growing plant, but it helps with overall plant growth and makes harvesting a much smoother process.  

Ellie:

• Use Nutri-mulch (organic fertilizer locally produced here in Sanpete County).
• NEVER plant more than one zucchini plant.
• Freeze any excess produce, it’ll come in handy during soup season. I’ve been slicing/shredding produce and bagging it in 2 cup portions.
• Don’t be afraid to try something new. I’m absolutely lost when it comes to cooking with tomatillos (I didn’t even know that they were a relative of the tomato), but after looking up a few recipes I’m excited to make some salsa verde.

Speaking of recipes, I’ve been experimenting with zucchini bread a bit. I’m teaching a health class and I’m on a kick where I’m trying to make unhealthy foods as healthy as possible. Call me crazy.

Healthy(ish) Zucchini Bread

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
⅓ cup honey
1 egg
½ cup applesauce
2 cups shredded zucchini

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Mix together dry ingredients
3. In a separate bowl whisk together honey, egg, applesauce and zucchini
4. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients
5. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan, spread evenly
6. Bake in a preheated oven for 35-45 minutes or until top is firm
7. Let cool, slice and enjoy!

Warning: This bread will be moist because of the moisture in the applesauce and zucchini, but it’s delicious!

 Thank you Ellie! I would love to come to your classes and learn all your healthy tips. And I can't wait to try that bread with the large zucchini on my counter.

Guest Post: Gardening// Annie

I've asked a few gardeners to guest post about their experiences with gardening and what they've learned. Being interested and passionate about natural foods and self-sufficient living has me looking forward to a garden of my own someday. 

Guest: My sister Annie lives pretty close to me so I'm lucky enough to eat her meals often. She is so good at using her garden and trying new things. I love how she excites her kids with garden fresh food and they really appreciate the taste of something straight from the backyard. 

I love my garden. So far this year zucchini and rhubarb have been very successful. But one of the things I have been reminded of this year is that one family doesn't need much more than one zucchini plant. I have way too much but we do love to share.

This year I tried something new...and it really stinks. :) I added a lot of buffalo manure to my garden boxes besides my yearly fertilizer mix. I think it has actually worked. So far I am getting a much better crop.

To learn to garden I recommend taking a class or getting a book written by someone who gardens in your area. Your garden will be more successful if you are learning from someone who understands your soil and zone. If you are in Utah, I recommend this book by Gordon Wells. He is a successful Utah gardener with years of experience. You will learn everything from prepping soil, watering systems and how much to water, pest control and varieties of crops that do well in Utah.

This year my zucchini has been out of control. So we have honestly had zucchini in some form every single night that I have cooked. One common mistake is letting the zucchini grow too big. Just because they can become humongous, does not mean you should let it. It tastes much better if you pick them smaller. Unless you plan to shred it and then it is fine to let them get a little bigger. One of my favorite ways to eat zucchini is just sliced in long sticks (maybe 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick), toss with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper and grill. I have basket that I use but you can just lay them right on the grill. They only need a few minutes.

Here are some links to a few of our favorite zucchini dishes.

Zucchini Fries - comes from the blog Our Best Bites. They are oven baked and easy. And we could eat a ton of them.

Lemon Herb Zucchini Fettucine (but I use whole wheat rotini)

And from Martha Stewart - Zucchini Quesadillas (I often add black beans, as well).

And we always have some zucchini bread and zucchini chocolate cake too. You really can't go wrong with zucchini. And if you have too much like I do or it grows to big, shred it and freeze it. It is great in soups, spaghetti sauce or breads in the winter.

To learn why you should eat zucchini - read this article here.

Another thing OUT OF CONTROL but so so easy to grow - Rhubarb. And once you plant it...you don't do anything. It just keeps coming back year after year. I got my rhubarb starts from my grandma and I will gladly pass on my starts. I like how it looks in my garden but it is even better in dessert. This week I have made rhubarb snacking cake from Smitten Kitchen and strawberry rhubarb pie. Yum. Don't be afraid of rhubarb because it looks like celery. It is delicious.

Rhubarb Recipes we LOVE

Rhubarb Snacking Cake

Rhubarb Crisp

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie 

Rhubarb hand pies

To learn why you should eat rhubarb - read this article here.  Although while it has nutritional value, it is only used at our house as dessert so beware. :)

Thanks Annie. I want to go through and try all these recipes. They look so good. You're really good at using your garden. (and thanks for the zucchini on Sunday)